This invention relates to a fishing lure, and more particularly to a fishing lure with a movable weight mounted inside thereof.
Referring to FIG. 9, a fishing lure 25 of a conventional type with the movable weight disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-15021 comprises a lure body 20 with an exterior appearance resembling a bait fish and a longitudinal hollow 21 extending in the longitudinal direction of the lure body 20, a steel ball 22 as a weight mounted within the longitudinal hollow 21 in such a manner as to move back and forth along a substantially center line of the longitudinal hollow 21, and a magnet 23 disposed on a rearwardly facing wall 21a defining the longitudinal hollow 21 for holding the steel ball 22 via its magnetic force.
The fishing lure of this type enables the steel ball 22 to move backward via the force of inertia effected by casting the fishing lure in such a manner as to direct the forward end of the lure body 20 towards a target point. As a result, the fishing lure 25 may be casted a longer distance.
At the moment of that the fishing lure has landed on the water, the steel ball 22 is moved forward, and then attracted and held by the magnet 23 in position within the longitudinal hollow 21, so that the center of gravity is transferred to a front portion of the lure body 20. This movement of the steel ball 22 facilitates a rear portion of the fishing lure to swing through the water by drawing a fishline connected thereto. The fishing lure resembles a swimming fish via this motion, and therefore can attract a fish.
The fishing lure 25 of this type is provided at its inner and rearwardly facing wall 21a partly defining the longitudinal hollow 21 with the magnet 23 so that the magnetic force effected by the magnet 23 acts in the longitudinal direction of the longitudinal hollow 21. Since the fishing lure 25 is usually connected to the fishline at a front end 25a thereof, the front end 25a first moves forwardly so that the steel ball 22 is subjected to the force of inertia acting in the longitudinal direction of the longitudinal hollow, which direction is the same as that of the magnetic force effected by the magnet 23. This may necessitate a relatively strong force of the inertia for releasing the steel ball 22 from the magnet 23.
As is apparent from the above reason, the steel ball 22 can be released from the magnet 23 by casting a fishing lure 25 with a snap of the wrist in such a manner as to apply an abrupt force to the steel ball 22. However, this casting motion may not be easily performed by an angler with a poor skill. Unless the steel ball 22 is released from the magnet 23, the center of gravity does not move the rear portion of the fishing lure 25, which poses a problem, that is, the above described advantage can not be obtained.
The fishing lure 25 of this type poses another problem in view of its configuration. That is, when the lure body 20 has a relatively narrow configuration, the distance W of the longitudinal hollow 21 inevitably becomes narrower, and a resultant space which accommodates the steel ball 22 becomes smaller, and may not sufficiently act as a weight.
To increase the weight of the steel ball, the fishing lure 25, which has two or more steel balls 22, 22' within the longitudinal hollow 21, is conceivable. In this arrangement, the rear steel ball 22' is indirectly attracted by the magnet via the front steel ball 22, and therefore magnetic force acting over the rear steel ball 22' is weakened. Under this condition, it is likely that the rear steel ball 22' is unintentionally released from the magnet, and moves to the rear portion of the lure body in the water. Once the center of gravity has been transferred to the rear portion of the lure body, the rear portion becomes stable, and does not smoothly and largely swing. This may lower an effect to attract the fish.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a fishing lure which enables the weight mounted within the hollow of the lure body to be easily released from the initial position thereof even via a relatively slow casting motion.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a fishing lure with a plurality of the weights, which enables all the weights to easily move the rear portion of the lure body at the moment of casting, and to be securely held at a predetermined position after the lure has landed on the water.